Block last



Dec. 4 1923. 1,475,943

G. B. FITZ BLOCK LAST Filed Nov. 12. 1921 'ra eaieenee. 4, 1923.

UNETE ATENr Fries. Z

' GUY BEAECE rrrz, or AUBURN, MAINE, ssrenon TO rrrz-niv rmn IDQUBLE rrvor LAs'r COMPANY, or AUBURN, MAINE, A CORPORATION, OF' AINE.

BLOCK LAST.

Application filed November 12, 1921. Serial No. 514,663;

1 all whom it Mag concern:

Be it known that I, GUY B. Firz, a citizen of the United States, residing in Auburn, in

the county of Androscoggin and State of V fivMaine, have invented certain Improvements in Block Lasts, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawingsindicati'ng like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to block lasts, or lasts having a. block or partin the upper part of the instep which is movable to release or restore the lasting tension in the waist of the shoe, thereby enabling the last to be removed from or properly inserted in the shoe. 1 Block lasts are universally used in turnshoe making, especially in the second lasting. It has been found impractical to put a hinge last into turned shoe, as it crowds the upper ahead of it when being inserted, instead of stretching it laterally, as desired. The main body of a block last can be placed in the turned shoe without undue longitudinal disturbance of the upper, and the insertion of the block will then" pull the upper laterally into proper position. w

Some sort of connection has been found necessary between the block and mainbody of the last in order to preventloss of the block when the last is not in use, and a cord has been almost universally used for that purpose. The use of the cord is at tended with difiiculty due to the fact that it gets between the block and main body,thus preventing the proper seating of the block, which is a troublesome accident, especially in a high shoe where the last cannot be easily manipulated. The cord is also frequently cut by bein caught between the jack and last cone, an the block is then separated and often lost.

In my application Ser. No. 297,264, filed May 15, 1919, and which matured into Patent No. 1,447,240, granted March 6,

1923, I have presented a solution of the problem involving the provision of a link connection between the block and the main body, which will not be subject to these disadvantages and will at the same time retain the great advantage of the loose cord connection which permits the block to be disposed out of the way when, for example, a high shoe isbeing manipulated on a jack,

my said prior application containing claims generic to the invention therein shown and to the present 1nvent1on.:

The purposeof the present invention is still further to improve this type oflast by providing an'additional element of flexibility in the connection between the block and the main body. An important feature of the invention consists accordingly in a novel hinged connection between the body and block which enables the block to be swung out toinoperative position and also permits a rocking movement of the block. This structure permits a sidewise oscillation of the block as. it is being forced into the 4 shoe during relasting-which greatly facilitates this operation. In the illustrated last this advantage is secured by a link connection between the body and block,.there be ing a hinge in the link itself between its point of connection to the block and body. These and other features of theinvention,

including certain details of construction and. combinations of parts, will best be .understood fro-1n the following description of a referred embodiment of the. invention, se-

ected for illustrative purposes and shownin the drawings in which,

Fig. '1 is a side elevation of the last, part I ly broken away, and I Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the block in inoperative osition. V The main bo y 10 of'the last and the block 12 are separated by a cut 14 of any desired form as will be well understood by those skilled in the art. A. link consisting of twomembers 16 and 18 hinged together in any convenient manner, as at 20, between their ends are pivoted at their ends in the main body 10 and block 12, respectively, by pins 22, 24. The member 16 has a corner or shoulder 26 which rests against a ball 28, pressed against it by a resilient member 30 mounted in a cavity in one of. the last parts. The parts are so arranged that when the instep block is drawn up into position (shown in Fig. 2) in order to facilitate withdrawal of the last from the shoe or its insertion therein, the ball 28 slips fromone side of i the projection 26 to the other. The ball thus tends to hold the link 16, 18 in one or the other of its extreme positions.

. The line joining the parts 22, 24 forwardly and downwardly opening acute makes a r r at angle with the line of cut 14 as shown in Fig. 1 so that the action of the ball 28 in Fig. 1 tends to crowd the block 12 down into i? the line or" cut let in its vicinity when the its operative position.

It is obvious that so far as the mechanical working ofthe device is concerned, the ball 28 and spring 30 might be mounted in the block instead of in the main body and that other equivalent means could be substituted for the ball and spring. hinge at is shown as roughly parallel to block is in inoperative position, as shown in 1 1g. 2. This permits the block to be rocked around the axis of the hinge'20 in a lateral direction'and thus tacilita'te's its entrance into the shoe. It hasbeen found that. hinged lasts cannot be used inturned shoes because as the forepart goes into the turned shoe in the second lasting operation, it crowds the lin-ingahead of it causing a wrinkled lining and unsatisfactory shoe. Block lasts are therefore used for this .purp'osesincethe absence ofthe block makes theiforepart so loose in the shoe that'it enterswithout difficulty, stretching and arranging the lining as it goes,

- but it has always been found advisable to rock the block as it was being forced into place in "order to avoid a minor recurrence of the same difliculty. The construction illustrated herein permits thisrock ing movement of the block during its entry into the shoe and at the same time retains all of the ad I dude one definite preferred efi'ect or anotherj For example, the angleof'the hinge axis relatively to the main axis of the link be varied asdesired, or the hingemay be re placed by -a universal ball and socket arrangement. 7

Having. described my invention, what I The axis of the claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A block last having a pivotal connec-.

tion between the bl ck and body thereof, comprising two pintles at right angles and at a substantial distance from each other, the said connection being constructed and arranged to permit movement of the block relatively to the body about two axes at right angles to each other.

2. A blocklast having a link joining its block and body, the said link. having a hinge'between its points of attac'hmentto the body and block, the axis of the hinge being roughly parallel to the axis of the block as the block is moved intooperative positions A'block last having a link joining its block and body, the said link having a hinge between its points of attachment 'to the body and block. i

a. A block last having a link joining its block and body, the saic'llink having a hinge between its points of attachment to the body and 'bl'ock,- the ax is of the'hinge'being perpendicular to the axes of thepivotal con nections of the'link to the block and body, resjtiectively. i

5; A; block last having registering grooves in the body and block and a link lying in the grooves and pivoted to the two said last parts, the link having a hinge with its axis lying in the plane of the grooves to permit rocking olthe block as it is inserted in a shoe.

6. 'A block last having registering grooves in the body and block and a link lying in the grooves and pivoted to the two said last parts, the length of the link being arranged to seat the block properly in operative position and to support it, when displaced, in a position substantially above its operative instep position, the link having a hinge "with its axis lying in the plane of the grooves to permit rocking of the block as it is inserted in a shoe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GUY Bunsen ri 'r'z- 

